Laboratory to celebrate World Year of Physics

Laboratory to celebrate World Year of Physics

Welcome to the Year of Physics at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

The year 2005 marks the 100th anniversary of Albert Einstein's miraculous year in which, while working as a patent clerk, he published three important papers describing ideas that have had a profound effect on science and technology.

The first paper describes the importance of atoms, the second discusses light in quanta, while the third, Einstein's theory of relativity, stands as his most famous. These ideas led to major advances in the 20th century, with profound consequences for humanity. Einstein's theories are just as influential today as they were a century ago.

In celebration of Einstein's insights into physics, the international Union of Pure and Applied Physics and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization have declared 2005 the World Year of Physics. Throughout the year and throughout the United Sates, the American Physical Society, the American Association of Physics Teachers, the American Institute of Physics, and the Department of Energy and its national laboratories, including Lawrence Livermore, will be hosting myriad events in celebration of the Year of Physics.

The Year of Physics is not only an opportunity to celebrate what has come to be known as Einstein's "miracle year," it is an opportunity to raise worldwide awareness of physics and physical science, and inspire a new generation of scientists.

Physics is an integral part of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. The Lab's namesake, E.O. Lawrence, was a Nobel Prize-winning physicist. When he founded Lawrence Livermore more than 52 years ago, he envisioned a multidisciplinary laboratory bringing together expertise from every scientific field to tackle the nation's most important scientific problems. Physics has always played a key role in every field of science.

Throughout the year the Laboratory will demonstrate the importance of physics in virtually every facet of science and technology. In coming weeks there will be lectures, interactive demonstrations and hands-on experiments for schoolchildren, special exhibits and guest lectures for the public, and a weeklong celebration of physics for the scientific world, community leaders and physics students.

In May the Laboratory will kick off this special week of physics events on May 23 with a special "Science Day" highlighting the work it does in physics and a one-woman show on the life and times of Madame Curie for high school students and the public. Community guests will be invited on May 24 to attend special tours, lectures and demonstrations. In September the Laboratory will hold a Physics Day for high school students, featuring insights into the working world of physical science.

Founded in 1952, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has a mission to ensure national security and to apply science and technology to the important issues of our time. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is managed by the University of California for the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration.